As Hot as Hell, As cold as the Grave
by Cat 2
Summary: What if Storm was the White Queen of of the Hellfire Club, and Shaw's Lover. Please R
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns everything, with the exception of Cat who is my own creation. This is a work of fanfic, no copyright infringement intended. Lily rush and the cold case quad are not mine, someone else owns them.

Author's notes: this story takes place in a world shown in the Legacy quest book 2 by Steve Lyons. In that book a demon shows Sebastian Shaw a world where the X men are gone (how is not stated) and Storm is Shaw's White Queen. I'm a huge Cold Case fan as well as X Men fan, so I combined to the two to create this story. There's no date due to the elasticity of Marvel time. Enjoy.

As Hot As Hell, As Cold as The Grave

_Prologue__ the past_

Ororo Munro stood admiring her reflection in the full length mirror in her suite in the Hellfire Club. A small smile came to her lips.

"Suits you."

The voice came from behind her and she span around. A small figure in a yellow and blue suit and a taller female figure all in black stood in the doorway. Both wore masks that hid most of their faces.

"I'm not so sure Wolverine," the female said, "wouldn't black be better? It would match her soul."  
Noticing Ororo's eyes run over their shoulders, she added. "You might want to ask for a refund on those goons of yours. Easiest so far."

"Logan" Ororo began, but Wolverine interrupted her.

"Logan's for friends bub, and I ain't sure that you're that any more."

"This is ridiculous."

"Did you know, that the deepest, worse circle of hell is reserved for mutineers, and traitors?" the woman asked, moving more fully into the room.

"Should do. We explore them thanks to Elf's mother to rescue him. Back when we were X men."

"Do you ever wonder what happened to him after he 'ported out? Ever wonder if he was alright? Or" the woman continued. "Did they never tell you what they did? Afraid of how you'd react?"

"GET OUT!" Ororo screamed.

"Ororo?" a man with long grey hair tied back in a ponytail stood in the doorway, dressed in 18th Century Clothes.

"Keep your hair Shaw." Wolverine Snarled. "We're leaving."

The woman calmly moved around Ororo, knocking a bottle off the dressing table as she did so.

"Huh. Channel." She observed replacing it on the table. "Never though you'd sell yourself so cheap. Or" she said with a sly smile at Shaw. "Did you just accept the asking price?"

Shaw face flushed crimson and he stepped forwards them.

"Don't even think about it Bub." Wolverine Snarled. "If Cat and Me don't report in soon, some files you might prefer stay hidden go straight to the cops."

"And" Cat added, coming along side him. "In case they're not interested, to few newspapers who will be."

There was silence for a few moments before Shaw stepped away.

"Good plan." Cat said calmly. "We'll see you later." She said her eyes resting on Ororo.

Later

It was raining, great sheets of it that soaked everything. The lighting flashed, revealing a body lying in the alley. A young African America woman, dressed in a white corset and cloak, both of which were stained with blood. She lay perfectly still, not even breathing.

The officer took a final look at the photo before closing the box. With a black pen he wrote Munroe, O. 3rd August 19. He then placed it on the Shelf.

Philadelphia today,

The gentleman was sitting at Lily's desk before she got in. he was immaculately dressed in a well cut suit and the cane, which he grasped in hand, was beautiful carved. Strangely his long, grey hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, did not ruin the image at all. He rose slightly as she walked towards him.

"You are detective Rush?" he asked as she walked over. When she asserted he continued,

"The detective Rush who solves old murders?"

She nodded, wondering where this was all going. But he was so charming she was loathed to interrupt.

"The detective Rush who solved these cases?" he asked, mentioning to an aide who stood near him. The aide opened a briefcase, from which Shaw removed few newspaper clippings. She studied them before nodding

"How can we help you Mr…"

"Shaw. Sebastian Shaw." A smile like a wolf's crossed his face, as he saw her surprise. Shaw's Industries was one of the most successful companies on the planet, making Shaw as its CEO and leading share holders on of the richest men on the planet. He was also pleased at how quickly she regained control.

"My reason for coming here is simple. I have unsolved homicide that I wish to investigate."

"O.K. what was the victim name?"

"Ororo Munroe." He paused. Seeing the confusion on her face, he continued, "at the time of her death she was President of Storm's investments." He suppressed another smile at the expression on her face.

"Mr Shaw," Lily boss had come over, "with all respect that happened in New York. We're in Philly."

Shaw's face had changed. It was harder and anger gazed out of those eyes.

"Detective I labour under no illusions. I choose my partners for what they can offer me. In case, as in my business, the stakes are high. I always go for the best. I have examined the success rate with Cold Jobs for every state. Yours are the best." He paused for a moment. "Ororo taught me that if you take you must give something in return. My offer is simple. I will pay your wages and all expenses, including travel and a generous bonus for completion. "

There was silence

"Think," Shaw continued, "of all those would could finally have answers. All I ask is for you to give me one."

"Why now?"

Scotty Valens, Lily partner had wondered over.

"It's been what 5 years since Ororo died"

A flash of anger crossed Shaw's face.

"That" he said icily calmly "is my business."

He got to his feet.

"I look forward to hearing from you, detectives"

"You don't know we're taking you up." Lily said.

Shaw smiled, motioning to an aide who put down the suitcase.

"Yes I do detective."


	2. Chapter 1 Shaw

Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns everything, with the exception of Cat who is my own creation. This is a work of fanfic, no copyright infringement intended. Lily rush and the cold case quad are not mine, someone else owns them.

Author's notes: Tessa is the Mutant Known as Sage. She, at the time this story is set, is Shaw's personal assistant. This story takes place in a world shown in the Legacy quest book 2 by Steve Lyons. In that book a demon shows Sebastian Shaw a world where the X men are gone (how is not stated) and Storm is Shaw's White Queen. I'm a huge Cold Case fan as well as X Men fan, so I combined to the two to create this story. There's no date due to the elasticity of Marvel time. Enjoy.

Chapter 1 Shaw

"Ororo Munore, age unknown. Found in an alleyway at the back of the New York offices of the Hellfire Club in August 19. "

"Cause of death was apparently a cracked skull," Lily said, reading the reports, "Though there were multiple other injuries."

"She'd been in a fight?" Scotty Valens asked, flicking through the crime scene photos.

"One theory Scotty. Chief suspects were three other mutants, real names unknown, all we have are codenames, The Wolverine, The Cat and Nightcrawler."

"You're kidding." Reece Jeffery's had come over, having been speaking to CSI guys. "Those 3 are Alpha Flight.""Excuse me?"

"Alpha Flight, Lil, it's Canadian Version of the Avengers. They were very critical of the Mutant Rights movement over here. Made some serious accusations.""Guess Will and I are off to Canada." Lily observed.

"Valens, you and Jeffery's head off to New York, see what you can find out."

New York City, the present, Shaw's Industry's CEO Office

The offices of Shaw's Industries were luxurious. Mahogany furniture stood in opulence, aquariums full of fish that neither of the detectives even recognised lined the walls, occasionally hidden by exotic plants. Shaw stood in the midst of this undersea jungle. He indicated them to sit.

"You were quicker than I expected," he observed, sitting down behind his desk. "Then again" he continued "the boyfriend is always the first suspect.""So you and Ororo were more than business associates"

"We were lovers," Shaw confirmed a soft smile lightening his face, "and White king and Queen of the Hellfire club."

"For how long?"

"At the time of her death, nearly 3 years,"

"Can you tell us about the last time you saw her alive?"

Shaw's face softened.

"Of course" he said calmly

The past

_The room was hung with white satin and lace. The ornaments, paintings and furniture were Victorian, in pristine condition. In the centre of the room stood a reproduction four poster __bed__, with white sheets and __a trident logo embroidered in gold thread on the pillow cases. _

_As Shaw drew closer he could see Ororo lying beneath the sheets, weeping into the pillow. He didn't think he said or made any noise, but suddenly she was aware of him._

_"Sebastian," she gasped, sitting up and wiping her face with her hands. She was wearing an almost see th__r__ough white negligee, and despite the months they had shared Shaw still averted his eyes._

_"I've been waiting for you," she said, but not cutely, more with a desperate need for reassurance._

_"I have been thinking about the X-men." She said "wondering if things would have been different, if I hadn't-" she swallowed and reached out, pulling him to sit down beside her. He gazed at her. He had been truthful with her about most things, admired her courage, her strength and here she lay her spirit abused and broken, asking for validation. _

_"Tell me I did the right thing, Sebastian." She begged "when I pledged my allegiance to you and the Hellfire club, Tell me I didn't make a grave mistake."_

_And for once in his life Sebastian Shaw did not know what to say._

The Present

"I hated them for that," he admitted. "They'd broken her. She'd done nothing to deserve that."

"What happen then?"

"We were to both go that evening to a benefit dinner. I forget who was hosting it, Tessa will tell you. But she looked so..." he struggled for the words, "beaten, that I said she should rest. I went alone." His gaze turned to a picture of Ororo in full Hellfire regalia that stood on his desk.

"I wish I could have given her the reassurance she craved." He muttered softly. "But the thing I loved most about her was that she was the one person, Mutant or Sapien, that I could never lie to."TBC


	3. Chapter 2 Alpha Flight

Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns everything, with the exception of Cat who is my own creation. This is a work of fanfic, no copyright infringement intended. Lily rush and the cold case quad are not mine, someone else owns them.

Author's notes: this story takes place in a world shown in the Legacy quest book 2 by Steve Lyons. In that book a demon shows Sebastian Shaw a world where the X men are gone (how is not stated) and Storm is Shaw's White Queen. I'm a huge Cold Case fan as well as X Men fan, so I combined to the two to create this story. There's no date due to the elasticity of Marvel time. Enjoy.

Chapter 2 Alpha Flight

In its own way, Department H, home of Alpha Flight, was as impressive as Sebastian Shaw's office. It towered over the surrounding buildings and was iced with Canadian snow. The message sent out was clear.

Mutants were here to stay. They were not going to run and hide.

For all the confidence the building eluded, the tight security undermined it.

It was understandable. Yesterday a major victory had been won in Mutant rights. There were many who wished it was not so.

As a result it was nearly an hour after their arrival that they were shown into an interview room.

A man with short black hair stood there. He introduced himself as James Macdonald Hudson and explained that he was there to assist them.

"Which in English means he's here to make sure we don't give away any secrets. And that you don't bully us."

A tall muscular woman with dark brown hair and bluely green eyes stood in the doorway, while she spoke. Next to her stood a short hairy man, with longish black hair and blue eyes that made both detectives uncomfortable, though neither was sure why.

"Detectives Rush, Valens. This is Cat and Wolverine. Umm," he looked behind them, "where's Nightcrawler?"

"Still in the showers." Cat responded, sinking into a chair on the opposite side of the table.  
"He was last to run training."

"Despite all 3 of you been instructed to report?" Hudson asked, his voice full of ice.

"Elf was too het up," Wolverine had sat down. "Didn't think you'd be happy if he was in the infirmary."

"I suppose we don't get your real names?" Lily asked sweetly.

"names are for Friends, darling' and I ain't sure you're that yet." Wolverine said.

Lily bristled slightly at been called darling, making Cat smile.

"Don't worry. Unless he's known you about 60 years he calls all women the same sexist junk. As he treats us as equals, we don't bother protesting too much."

A distraction was created by a bang and a stench of brimstone. Smoke swirled around and as it cleared, a figure appeared. He resembled a demon in a painting, covered with indigo fur. His ears and teeth were pointed, his eyes were amber, and from a hole in his trousers a forked tail poked out.

To do the detectives justice neither of them reacted too badly. As Nightcrawler, as the figure was introduced to them, took his seat, Cat smiled.

"We are correct in presuming that this is linked to the death of Ororo Munro? There isn't some dead Mutant in Philadelphia with a Canadian passport."

"We're looking into the death of Ororo Munroe." Jeffery's confirmed.

"Hope he's paying you well." Cat replied. She might have said more, but Nightcrawler interrupted. He spoke English fluently, with only a slight formality of grammar that indicated that it was not his native tongue.

"We last saw Ororo at about 7 o'clock that evening."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_The meeting chambers of the Hellfire club were below New York Headquarters. It was a joyless, dark, dusty candle lit room._

_Nightcrawler shifted in the uncomfortable, rigid straight back chair._

"_Keep still." Cat hissed her lips barely moving. "We'll be out of here soon."_

"_Not soon enough." Muttered a voice, Northstar's, near Cat's elbow._

"_We promised we'd listen, nothing more." Cat whispered in reply. She forced her attention back to the meeting._

"_I wonder if the White Queen might like to attend to the matter personally?" _

_The speaker was a fat, balding, business man, some 10 years Shaw's junior, but who looked older, who held the post of Black Rook._

"_Given she was a member of the X men before...their unfortunate demise."_

_Next to Nightcrawler Wolverine tensed, and Cat's hand shot out to restrain him. _Ororo_ clutched the table, as Shaw attempted to rescue her._

"_Ms. Munroe does not feel ready to issue a public statement yet. It is too soon."_

"_It might be prudent," the black rook observed. "Given current circumstances."_

_Cat released Wolverine, her own face turning dark._

"_we are after all equally eager to quell the rumours that the X-Men were terrorist, and indeed that the Hellfire Club were instrumental in their demise."_

"_If only they had not been so arrogant." Sighed a white bishop, a large middle aged woman "so stubbornly sure that they alone occupied the moral high ground."_

_Cat, Wolverine and Nightcrawler were on their feet and nearly all of Alpha Flight looked murderous._

_No one knew what would have happened next because suddenly,_

"_NO!" all the confusion, all the pain, all the disbelief was released in that single syllable. She buried her face in her hands, but everyone was staring at her._

_She slowly got to her feet, not meeting anyone's eyes._

"_If you would excuse me," she murmured "I have had a very trying day and I am not feeling myself. I am going to my quarters." _

_As she left Northstar muttered, "Tu ou Vous?"_

_Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"The meeting broke up about 5 minutes later." Cat finished. "That was the last time any of us saw Ororo."

"Anyone who can confirm that."

Cat reached down and retrieved a computer disk.

"All Alpha Flight members are tagged, to aid in location in battle, retrieval of bodies that sort of thing. Because of the...unusual circumstances, a backup copy was kept of the security records." She handed the disk over. "You run that, you'll see that none of us were anywhere near the Hellfire club from 9:30 onwards."

"Thank you." Jefferies said, accepting the disk

"Why did you all hate Ororo so much?" lily asked.

Cat answered again for her teammates.

"Get in touch with New York. Read what happened to the X men." She shrugged. "The entire team was injured. We could locate everyone with the exceptions of Hank McCoy, Jean Grey, Scott Summers and Ororo Munroe. Hank McCoy was recovering from the Legacy Virus; it's upon his specialised blood cell that the cure is based. Cyclops has been leader of the X men since it started. Can't see him doing something like that. That left it between Ororo Munroe, a.k.a Storm and Jean Grey, A.k.a. Phoenix. And guess who was announced by Shaw as the newest member of the Hellfire club inner circle less than a week later."  
"Ororo Munroe." Lily said.

"Storm." Wolverine confirmed.


End file.
